The Valar & The Maia
Catholic tradition holds to the concept of choirs, or status groups, of angelic beings.
Tolkien's Maia and Valar are similar. Both are funadmentally powers, or spirits, who
abide on the world, and generally remain in the Undying
Lands. However, the Valar are significantly more powerful, and tend to be associated
with elements, such as stone, sea, or wind. These elemental beings are less of a persona
or individual, and more of a force and a concept, although these lines become blurred in
the epic format of the Silmarillion. The Maia, on the other hand, are lesser beings, often
serving the Valar. They are individuals, though, with personalities and traits that are
in many ways deeper than the Valar. Sauron is a fallen Maia,
and it would seem that the Wizards may be corporeal Maia, or
something close thereto.
The Maia and the Valar highlight a previously unseen portion of Tolkien's morality play in
the story of Middle Earth: they consistently are present in
the Silmarillion to appreciate the world that Illúvatar has
made and to delight in the fruition of his plan for that world. Hence, it would seem that
one of the chief virtues in Tolkien's world, as it is possessed by all the spirits of good,
is that of serving a chief end of appreciating the Creator.
